Obesity vs Overweight - Difference and Comparison

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	Obesity	Overweight
What is it?:	A bodily condition marked by excessive generalized deposition and storage of fat.	A condition wherein the person weighs over and above his normal weight accorning to his height, age and sex.
Calculation:	BMI (Body mass index) is over 30.	BMI (Body mass index) is between 25 and 29.9
Risk factors:	Coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension	Depression, high blood pressure.
Remedies/Treatment:	Reduce calories, Exercise and in extreme cases surgery	Exercise, reduced intake of food.
Causes:	More intake, eating fast foods, stress, depression, hormonal imbalance, sedentary lifestyle	More intake of food than is expended by the body
Occurrence:	More than 300 million people are obese across the world	Around 1 billion people are estimated to be overweight across the globe.
Geographically:	More prominent and on the increase in North America, the United Kingdom, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, Australasia and China	Globally
In children:	Around 5% of the 22 million overweight children under five are clinically obese.	22 million children under five are overweight

Both the terms Overweight and Obesity imply a condition of excess weight in a human being.

The term Overweight is generally used to indicate the excess amount of body weight that a human may hold. Alternatively it may be defined as weighing more than normal, especially having more body weight than is considered normal or healthy for one’s age or build.
As against this, Obesity is the condition of being obese, i.e., excess amount of body fat. It is actually increased body weight caused by excessive accumulation of fat. In other words, it can be concluded that while an overweight person will carry excess weight, he may or may not have excess accummulation fat.

1 Calculation
2 Medical Condition
3 Causes
4 Risks
5 Control
6 References

[edit] Calculation

An adult is considered “overweight” when he/she is above their stipulated healthy weight, which varies according to a person’s height and sex. The ideal weight for any adult is believed to correspond to his of her ideal weight from age 20 to 30. An individual is overweight when their BMI (Body mass index) is between 25 and 29.9. BMI, a calculation that measures weight relative to height, is the standard used by researchers to define a person’s weight according to their height.

An adult with a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese.
Obesity is excess fat compared to lean body mass, or a body weight that is 30 percent over the ideal weight for a specific height. A person is obese when the amount of adipose tissue is sufficiently high. Obesity is a chronic disorder, caused by complex variety of factors.

[edit] Medical Condition

Medically, obesity is a condition of the body characterized by over accumulation of fat under the skin and around certain of the internal organs. While overweight is being more than the weight for age, sex, and height. Overweight does not necessarily imply excess fat. People like athletes, bodybuilders can be overweight but not obese.

[edit] Causes

A person may be overweight because of the following reasons: Overeating, sedentary lifestyle, no exercise, metabolic or eating disorder, medical condition, etc. Obesity can be caused by social and lifestyle changes, medical problems, hormonal imbalance, genetic condition and can be aggravated by increased intake of food and lack of exercise.

[edit] Risks

Obesity is a major risk factor for serious health problems including coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension, etc. Though an overweight person also faces a risk of these medical problems but an obese is more susceptible to them.

Obese people are at high risk of depression and other social problems. Obesity is an excess of body fat sufficient to shorten one's life span and make one susceptible to a greater amount of illness than would occur if the body weight were normal. Calorific imbalance that results often develops from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. A combination of an excessive nutrient intake and a sedentary lifestyle are the main cause for the rapid acceleration of obesity.

[edit] Control

The safest and most effective way to lose weight in both cases is to reduce calories (balanced diet) and increase physical activity. In excess cases of obesity a person can undergo surgery.